Hold Me, Thrill Me?

You want me to do what? You didnt say it aloud, but you may well have been thinking it when the controller directed, N12345, hold northeast of XYZ on the 050 radial, 20 DME fix, three-mile legs. Expect further clearance at 45 past the hour; time now 20 past the hour. A hold? Who holds anymore?

Tom Turner

Tuesday, November 25, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Holding patterns are increasingly common in busy terminal airspace, often assigned at unpublished fixes for various reasons beyond standard missed approaches, requiring pilots to be proficient in both published and controller-defined scenarios.
The primary objective in a holding pattern is to remain within the designated protected airspace at the assigned altitude, typically using right turns, while pilots must also manage leg lengths (timed or distance-based), adhere to speed limits, and apply wind correction.
Pilots, especially in single-pilot IFR operations, can significantly reduce workload by slowing down early, sketching the pattern, leveraging automation (autopilot, GPS OBS mode for user-defined fixes), and proactively requesting a hold to gain time for critical tasks or decision-making.

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You want me to do what? You didnt say it aloud, but you may well have been thinking it when the controller directed, N12345, hold northeast of XYZ on the 050 radial, 20 DME fix, three-mile legs. Expect further clearance at 45 past the hour; time now 20 past the hour. A hold? Who holds anymore?

In fact, Im hearing more and more reports from pilots being put into holding patterns in busy terminal airspace. Most recently, I ran across a friend who flies a turboprop-converted Beech Bonanza, a Cessna Citation and (with a copilot) a Lear 55. He says hes regularly assigned holds in the Dallas area. Frequently hes assigned a hold at a controller-defined fix (e.g., XYZ 050 radial, 20 DME fix) that is not published anywhere on the charts or in his panel-mounted, GPS-driven display database. Its a big problem for a single pilot flying IFR, my friend says.